Like Father Like Son

It's true. Robert looks a lot like his Dad. He must be a good mix though because people that don't know Andy comment Robert looks just like me. I hope he grows up just like his Papa, maybe a little less argumentative though (smile). Just having fun Andy-I love you and your arguments!

So here are some great photo comparisons to show just how much Robert is his Papa's son.....


Andy at ~15 months (plaid on of course, he started at an early age)

Andy at 28 years old (still in plaid) and Robert following suit at ~10 months. This was a camping trip to the Little Lost June 2009.


When they aren't in plaid, they wear camo. Robert's ~13 months old here. This is a hunting trip in September of 2009.


If they don't wear plaid and we're not on a hunting trip (camo), then they at least sport the colors of camo. Afterall, green is the primary outdoors' color and if you can't blend in with a tree you might as well dress the approporiate color, just in case. This is our annual Yellowstone trip October 2009. Robert is ~14 months old.


Andrew at ~18 months old sporting the sunglasses.

Andy with his Top Gun sunglasses and Robert following along with Uncle Brent's Mission Impossible sunglasses.

They both even LOVE cleaning up. Well, maybe they don't love it, but everything has a place and should be there when not in use. Robert will already sing the clean-up song to me, without any prompting, when he sees a mess or before it's time to leave the house or time for bed. Everything must be put away, it's so cute. When we're eating dinner his cup has to sit in the little circle cutout on his tray--just like his Papa!

Each Moment

Now don't get me wrong in this post. I love my life, love my family. I have so much happiness around me, but I've been reflecting on what makes happiness tick. So, here goes.

Robert is growing so fast. I was thinking the other day about that quote something about Life isn't about Breath-taking Moments, but about the Moments that Take Your Breath Away. We start filling our schedules with STUFF that should be important and self-fullfilling and then wonder why our "happiness meter" is low. The things that get my happiness meter going are the small things that don't actually make it on the OFFICIAL schedule like

• playing cars with Robert
• sitting and reading books until Robert is bored
• putting on music and dancing around the house
• running around the house with Robert in the backpack carrier
• baking cookies for Andy
• going on walks jsut because I want to not because I want to exercise

My favorite quote of all time is "Happiness is wanting what you have." I've given that quote to at least a dozen people on a plaque of some sort--I don't have one for myself yet though. It puts into perspective our accountability in regards to our attitude. I could have all the THINGS in the world, but if I didn't want them I'd be miserable. No one can change our attitude for us. If the happiness meter is struggling to launch, then I need to make an attitude adjustment and SCHEDULE in some time to be happy.


Robert loves the backpack. I was running from the front door, through the living room and kitchen, down into the family, and then turning back to do it again. He thought it was the best! Luckily Andy snapped this picture to capture his face (and my lovely hair in my eyes).


There are a couple things Robert LOVES--more than a couple, but a few illustrated in this photo are 1) being "nakee" 2) shoes and 3) hats. I believe he was telling me he wanted to go "bye bye" and was trying to persuade me to put some shoes on him so he could leave. Little did he know it was bath time and then bed time, not time to go "bye bye."


On the list of things he loves is definately the bath. He figured out a couple weeks ago how to really start splashing and bath time has now accelerated to a whole new level. I know, what a mess, right? Well, I tell myself "it's just water." It soaks up in a towel really well. If little boys can't have some fun splashing in the tub every now and then, what has this world come to?